Writing articles and submitting them to article directories is a strategy known as article marketing and is designed to do two things. The first is to create massive back-links to web pages in order to increase their position on search engine results pages. The second is to attract targeted visitors to your website.

Unless you purchase submission software or submission services such as Article Marketer, article marketing is free and if it is done consistently, can dramatically improve traffic to your site.

Before writing, you need to have a marketing purpose clearly in mind as well as understanding directory guidelines. In other words, write with both your target audience and the publisher in mind. It is a good idea to read the publishing guidelines at the article directory you're going to submit to.

Briefly, the articles need to be original, between 500 and 700 words (recommended) and submitted either in text format or using Word with 'smart quotes' disabled. You also need to be very careful that you put your article in the right category otherwise it will be rejected. It will also be sent back for editing if there are errors.

The whole point of writing articles for article directories is for the potential advertising benefit. You are submitting articles to directories so that web publishers can download and use your articles on their blogs and websites free of charge.

In return, they must agree to keep the resource box at the end of the article intact with a live link to your site. This is your payment. However, to really benefit you need to specifically address the needs of your target audience and to do it well. This way, readers will be far more likely to click on your link to see what else you have to say on your website.

Once you have an interesting, relevant and well written article that conforms to directory guidelines, you will need to decide which directories you wish to submit to. If you want a blanket approach for maximum initial traffic, you may wish to consider using a submission service such as Article Marketer.

However, if you are seeking to improve your search engine position, there is a possibility of being penalized by Google for a lot of potentially low quality links. Google is constantly altering its algorithms to maximize benefits to their users and having a page of the same article come up in search results because of mass directory submissions isn't good for users.

If you decide to manually submit to a few of the better sites, make sure you include ezinearticles dot com. You can do a search and find a list of directories recommended by other people.

The actual submission process is easy. You simply register as a user, click on 'submit article' (or equivalent) and paste your article in the space provided. The publisher will get back to you in a few days and let you know whether or not the article is accepted.

More than anything, however, you will influence your results by the quality of your writing, your subject matter and by creating a resource box that entices people to click on your link.